The three-question framework
Make a Decision
A fencing or grazing management decision becomes easier to organize when you separate the starting point, the desired outcome, and the realistic ways to get there. Work through these questions in order.
The pathway
Three questions, one decision.
Where am I now?
Define the management problem. Inventory current fencing, grazing system, labor, infrastructure, landscape, and constraints. Identify the risks already present. Open Question 1 →Where do I want to go?
Define what success means. Separate direct operating benefits from benefits that expand future management options. Set time horizon and risk limits. Open Question 2 →What are the ways to get there?
List realistic alternatives, including status quo and hybrid approaches. Compare them on fit, feasibility, cost, consequence, and other decision factors. Open Question 3 →Use one risk vocabulary
Five sources of risk
Use the same five RightRisk categories throughout the decision. They describe where uncertainty or exposure comes from; they are not a score.
Market
Prices for outputs and inputs.
Production
Forage, animal performance, system reliability, and weather.
Institutional/legal
Rules, permits, liability, leases, and agency conditions.
Human
Labor, skills, management capacity, health, and continuity.
Financial
Capital exposure, cash flow, debt service, and cost of failure.
What is each alternative doing about risk?
Six risk-control types
Avoid
Eliminate exposure to the risk.Reduce Probability
Make failure less likely.Reduce Consequence
Limit damage when failure occurs.Transfer
Shift risk to another party.Increase Capacity to Bear
Build resilience so failure is survivable.Accept
Acknowledge the risk and proceed without another control.Screening and escalation
Not every decision needs the deepest analysis.
The Risk Mitigation Filter is the compact screening instrument. If the decision requires more depth, the RMF routes the user toward the appropriate RightRisk tool or specialist review. This website does not recreate those tools.
Screening tool
Risk Mitigation Filter (RMF)
Use the current RMF to screen the status quo and producer-selected alternatives. Download RMF →
User guide